You probably know Bruce Feldman as one of the people who knows Mike Leach best (he did write a fascinating book with Leach, after all) but I think of him first as a college football expert. Feldman has been covering college football for 17 years as a writer, reporter and, more recently, a television analyst. We were emailing recently about something unrelated when he said he had noticed a Twitter discussion between me and an OSU fan.

This particular fan was saying Oregon State needed to fire football coach Mike Riley, which prompted Feldman to ask me, "Do some OSU fans actually think they can get a better fit than Riley there?" Hence, this Q&A. Enjoy, and be sure to follow Feldman on Twitter.

Lindsay Schnell: It's coaching carousel season, and every time this year a group of Oregon State fans start clamoring for a change because they think Mike Riley is the wrong person for OSU ... why do you think he's the right fit?Bruce Feldman: I know some people up there won't like this, but he's ideal for OSU. He's an excellent coach and a proven winner. He's led them to eight or more wins in six of the last 11 seasons up there. That's pretty strong given the resources he has.

Let's not kids ourselves: Oregon State is not committed, from a resource standpoint, like Alabama and Texas and Florida and a few others, but he and his staff keep finding ways to win and compete. The guy also represents that program/community in a true first-class way. The national media loves him to the point where we sometimes use his as the benchmark of what a “good guy” is —- as in, “He's Mike Riley nice.”

LS: You've been to a lot of places in college football, and seen a lot of behind the scenes action, especially in recruiting. Why is it hard to recruit to somewhere like Corvallis?BF: The biggest recruiting hotspot in the Pac-12 area is southern California. Kids who grew up in LA weather aren't always excited about cold and rainy or a much slower pace. Corvallis also isn't easy to get to. The facilities, compared the rest of the conference (and especially to UO) are not eye-catching. That can be really tough to overcome when dealing with impressionable 17-year-olds.

LS: A few other national reporters have commented over the years that Riley is one of the most well-liked and well-respected people in the business — do you think that's true and if so, why?BF: He is an awesome guy. I remember just having a conversation with him about coaching and people he learned from and living in Texas and why he was such a James Rodgers fan. Because when he (Rodgers) first got there he wanted to learn so much from him (Riley), Rodgers literally kept bumping into him because he wanted to be so close and it just kept on going into a bunch of different places. And someone (I think the defensive coordinator, Mark Banker) had a sick dog that day and he was in the office and Riley was dogsitting. And it was miserable weather and Riley made (Ryan) Gunderson or some young staffer go get a jacket so I didn't get drenched at practice.

I'd put it like this: In college coaching, most guys have a few people who they don't get along with. I'm pretty sure everyone likes Mike Riley.

LS: This conference has become enamored with hurry-up, no-huddle spread offenses ... is Riley too "set in his ways" by keeping the pro style?BF: They do some cool stuff on offense and have been with getting their runs on the perimeter, but right now they haven't consistently been able to run the ball at all. I don't know if that's cyclical or (an issue) with their depth and personnel.

LS: What role does Oregon's success play in all this? Do you think Oregon State fans would be as frustrated as they are now if the Ducks were winning 8 games a season and regularly attending the Alamo and Holiday bowls?BF: No, I think you hit the nail on the head. Oregon's emerged as a powerhouse, but like I said, they have much bigger resources. It doesn't mean OSU can't compete. I watched the (Civil War) game the other night. They can compete, but it's an uphill climb.

Also, keep in mind the league is deeper than it’s been in years. Stanford and Washington are much improved from 4-5 years ago. Washington State, which had been awful, is getting a lot better with Leach there. Also the Arizona schools are much stronger. Cal's worse, but we'll see what (Sonny) Dykes can do there.

LS: If Riley were to leave, how attractive is the Oregon State job and what type of candidate would it attract?BF: I think any Pac-12 job is attractive but I'd put it in the bottom third of the league from that standpoint. There is more money flowing in the league with the Pac-12 Network and that's a plus. Problem is, it's not going to be easy to do better than Mike Riley has done.